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Microsoft today just released the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway, which is available at no cost. That's right, it's free and is immediately downloadable. The XMPP gateway allows basic presence sharing and instant messaging (IM) with Cisco Jabber and Google Talk. OCS users can now instant message Cisco Jabber and Google Talk users.

The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway can be downloaded here. Also, check out this video featuring Ashima Singhal (Senior Product Manager) and Albert Kooiman (Senior Product Manager) from the Communication Server team who discuss IM interoperability between different networks and show how the XMPP Gateway works.

Notice the different network icons (Yahoo!, AOL, Gmail/Google Talk)


Demo of Communicator client IM'ing a Google Talk user.

Some more good news - a PIC License will no longer be required for federation with American Online (AOL).  Customers qualify for federation with AOL if they have Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard CAL or active Software Assurance on their current LCS/OCS license.  Alas, customers who want Yahoo! federation will continue to purchase PIC licenses, but the price of PIC will be reduced by 50%, effective October 1, 2009.

Via Office Communications Server Team blog

Cisco bought Tandberg, a video conferencing company for $3 billion. But is this good for the video conferencing industry or bad? Let's have a recap of Cisco's "openness" and adoption of standards.

First, Cisco was very late to adopt the SIP standard, finally embracing third-party SIP phones back in 2006. However, Cisco plays some serious licensing shenanigans that make it very cost prohibitive to use 3rd party SIP phones with Cisco CallManager. If you look at Cisco's CallManager licensing guidelines, a third-party SIP Device (Basic) that supports one line consumes three license units and a third-party SIP Device (Advanced) that support up to eight lines and video consumes six license units. As an example, for just a basic IP phone you must purchase (three) license units at $50/each for $150 total on top of the cost of the phone itself. However, an inexpensive  Grandstream GXP-2000 (a $85 phone) is classified as 'Advanced' since it supports multiple lines, thus requiring six license units for an additional $300, bringing the grand total of the handset to $385!

Further, Cisco has their own proprietary IOS, usually requiring certified Cisco personnel to manage. Although they have recently added web admin tools, to get to nitty gritty, you still need to know the command line commands.
So Cisco doesn't have a track record of supporting standards.

Now back to video. I recently scolded the single play VoIP providers for not offering interoperable video phones. Why can't a Packet8 videophone call a ACN videophone? I wrote:

If the single play providers were smart, they'd take my advice and make their videophones interoperate. Forget trying to hold your customers hostage by forcing them to stay with your service in order to keep their videophone capabilities. A customer that signs up with ACN and gets the videophone should not only be able to videocall Packet8 videphones, he should also be able to leave ACN, join Packet8's service and continue to use his videophone. With standards such as SIP, H.264, etc. there's absolutely no reason why videophone shouldn't interoperate. Further, with mobile phones increasingly adding more processing horsepower, and embedded cameras, making 2-way video calls from a Windows Mobile phone or Apple iPhone should be quite feasible. It's all about the standards, baby!

Which brings us back to the Cisco/Tandberg deal. I should mention that Tandberg and Cisco have a relationship going back to at least 2005, when Cisco OEM'ed the Cisco IP Phone 7985G Videophone from Tandberg. Tandberg reported revenue of $809 million in 2008 and sells various video-conferencing products, including high-end HD video systems that compete with Cisco. So it's a smart move by Cisco. But is it good for the enterprise business? I don't think so. My guess is that Cisco will do what they did with their native Skinny-protocol IP phones, which is if you want interoperability, you'll have to license the SIP protocol. I suspect something similar will happen to businesses that wish to deploy video telepresence solutions. You will either go 100% native Cisco/Tandberg for all your video endpoints, or you will pay through the nose to use a 3rd party video endpoint.

Rich Tehrani wrote something this morning along the same lines and he quotes Polycom. Rich wrote, "Companies like Polycom are not pleased with the situation. Stefan Karapetkov, Emerging Technologies Director for the company had this to say in his blog:"

Cisco announced today that they will acquire Tandberg, and this will have significant impact on the video communications market. It will reduce competition, and limit customers' choices, especially in the telepresence space. It will, hurt Radvision who now fills the gap in Cisco's video infrastructure portfolio.

I am however more concerned about the standards-compliance that have been the pillar of the video communication industry for years. Tandberg and Polycom worked together in international standardization bodies such as ITU-T and in industry consortiums such as IMTC to define standard mechanisms for video systems to communicate.

Cisco on the other hand is less interested in standards, and considers proprietary extensions as a way to gain competitive advantage. The concern of the video communication industry right now should be that the combined company will be so heavily dominated by Cisco that standards will become last priority, far after integrating Tandberg products with Cisco Call Manager and WebEx.

Telling is the fact that both Tandberg and Cisco declined participating in interoperability events over the last few months.

Not participating in interoperability events isn't necessarily the "smoking gun", especially with many companies cutting back on travel. However, it isn't a good sign. If indeed Cisco plans is to bring Tandberg's video solutions "into the fold" and make it unattractive to use with other 3rd party video solutions, then I for one will be rooting for those that adopt industry standards, including Polycom, HP, Grandstream, and others. I just hope other purchasing decision makers feel the same and force Cisco into adopting standards without extravagant licensing fees.

TeleBlend, you know the Sunrocket saviors, after the 2007 Sunrocket implosion, today announced that it will be offering one year of unlimited local and long distance calling for just $99. If you recall, Sunrocket was offering $299.99/year for unlimited calling just 2 years ago. Now that same offering is going for $99/year. Amazing how quickly prices have dropped in just two years.

The $99 Annual Plan is available for a limited time only and includes unlimited US calling, a free device, 15 free calling features including caller ID, voicemail and simultaneous ring with no cancellation fees.

"TeleBlend has always strived to provide the most affordable unlimited phone service in the industry. With the launch of our new $99 Annual Plan, we feel that we have accomplished that goal and not only made phone service more affordable to households around the nation but also more convenient."

Since the new unlimited $99 Annual Plan is a limited time offer, the question now becomes, "How much will it be in one year?" ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

VoIP & Gadgets blog was named one of the Top 10 telecom websites by Cision Media. Unlike other top 10 lists, this list claims to be objective since it compares unique visitors per month to generate an accurate assessment. I wasn't planning on blogging it, but did email a link to TMC's Dave Rodriguez and Rich Tehrani.

Then I noticed Garrett Smith had a good write-up on him making this list as well. Garrett said it well when he said, "...I've seen a number of top VoIP blog lists spring-up which look to rank the most popular and influential voices in the industry. As a former list compiler myself I know the difficulties in selecting the best blogs, because ranking the"best" is so subjective. Hence why we really try to not toot our own horn when it comes to making these types of lists. Sure the recognition is great, but what are most of these lists really based on other than opinion or perception?"

Indeed, these top lists are very subjective and opinion-based, which is why I found this objective and analytical list so fascinating. After reading Garrett's article about this top 10 telecom list, I decided it was worth sharing as well.

So check out what Cision Media said:

Our Top 10 Blog lists are generated by comparing Unique Visitors per Month figures for blogs in Cision's media database, giving you a snapshot of some of the best read and most discussed blogs. Check back for new lists every other week.

  Top 10 Telecommunications Blogs   
  1. Considering Convergence
  2. VoIP & Gadgets Blog
  3. Skype Journal    
  ...

I don't want to include the entire article, so go check out the other 7 websites. My boss Rich Tehrani also made the list, which means 20% of the list are TMC websites.

Rich Tehrani took xG Technology's xMax technology, a WiMAX / LTE competitor for a (literal) test drive.

Rich writes:

xG Technology proclaimed in 2005 that they have a revolutionary technology which allows wireless broadband using unlicensed and licensed frequencies. They said they could build the equivalent to a WiMAX network without the need to spend a massive amount on spectrum auctions and moreover, their technology had better range than WiMAX.

It seemed too good to be true and after some years of waiting, the communications industry got impatient. After all, this revolutionary technology had the potential to change the way wireless networks are deployed. If it was real, where was it? Again, it seemed beyond what was possible and after time, even patient old me figured the story didn't add up. I even asked the company to show us the technology so we could set the record straight.

Rich got a full demo of the xMax wireless technology by driving through Florida and talking on their SIP-based phone, which operates at 902-928 MHz. How's the range? Well, according to Rich's article, one of xG Technology's customers, Townes Tele-Communications, Inc. has a few towers and their 100 foot tower has a range of 2.5 miles while one at 350 feet in the air has 6-8 mile range and xG Technology claims it is superior in coverage area to the nearby GSM equipment. According to Rich's article, "Well for a cool $2 billion you could have 70% POP coverage for 452 metros or about 90% of the population of the US. This would include at least a megabit of bandwidth per channel."

Rich has full-on video action of this very cool test drive. Go check it out.

Check out the quick video recording I made of two Polycom VVX 1500 IP video phones making a test video call. I used an iPhone 3GS to capture the video of the test call between the two phones. The iPhone's video recording quality isn't too shabby, but doesn't truly give you an idea of the quality of the Polycom's VVX 1500 touchscreen. (Note: The video phone was tilted far back, so it was aimed directly at the fluorescent lighting in the ceiling. So you see some whiteout when the VVX 1500 camera gets blinded by the ceiling lighting.)

Having a touchscreen IP videophone is pretty cool and I'm enjoying testing it so far. This is just a quickie video demo. I hope to do a full review of these phones very soon. Till then, enjoy the Youtube video below:

Livestream today is launching the world's first solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality by bonding six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems over three carriers. Called Livepack, this unique solution enables you to have a roaming live video studio anywhere you can get 3G/EVDO connectivity. Livestream says it can stream HD video at far lower costs than traditional solutions such as broadcast trucks.

 Of course, bonding six 3G/EVDO modems together has some other fringe benefits - like ludicrous wireless Internet speed! Wonder if you can tether the Livepack to your laptop and get super high-speed Internet access while on the road? Imagine streaming HD Netflix movies or downloading Bittorrent files while driving down the road. - your passenger doing the laptop mouse & keystrokes of course!

Livepack fits in a custom-designed backpack and is a turn-key hardware solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality to thousands of viewers on the web using encoding hardware, Firewire cable, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.

Livestream said: "Livepack is ideal for live broadcasting any events including concerts, interviews, sporting events, town hall meetings, paparazzi, university graduations, weddings, ceremonies, transmission from a moving car, and a variety of enterprise applications."

"Livepack is like having a satellite television truck in a backpack," said Max Haot, CEO and co-founder of Livestream. "If you want to live stream in high quality at an event where you don't have a reliable fixed Internet connection, broadcasting with a cell phone cannot yet deliver either the high video quality or network reliability you need. The only other solution available is a traditional broadcast truck and satellite signal which can cost up to $50,000 a day."

Livepack is an integrated solution using hardware provided by Livestream's partner, LiveU, that has been fully integrated with Livestream's streaming video platform and content delivery network (CDN). 

Livepack product details and recordings of live videos can be viewed at www.livestream.com/livepack. Livepack was recently used for coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards, NY Fashion Week, Harry Potter movie premiere and Pixie Lott Live,

Livestream's groundbreaking Livepack redefines simplicity for live mobile HD quality video streaming. Once Livepack is powered up, and a DV camera is connected, all it takes is just one press of a button to start the live streaming, enabling broadcasters to deliver live, on the scene, video coverage at just a fraction of what a satellite truck costs to rent and operate.

Livepack quickly establishes a reliable Internet connection and is not tied to one wireless network, as it includes six 3G/EVDO modems for redundancy. Because it integrates with Livestream's streaming video platform, Livepack does not require any additional re-encoding or server in your offices to reach its destination. Once the video reaches the Livestream content delivery network the video is immediately streamed in your Livestream player, as well as being captured and securely archived.

Availability and Pricing
Livestream Livepack is available in the U.S. for monthly or yearly rental directly from Livestream, and includes the hardware unit, custom designed backpack, dedicated IP address for the Livestream channel, all 3G/EVDO network charges, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.  Neither a DV camera nor tripod are included. Month-to-month rental without commitment is $2,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. Yearly rental is $1,500 per month plus the cost of shipping.

Today, Mitel unveiled the next phase of its comprehensive software strategy with Mitel Series X Collaboration, showcasing Mitel's complete suite of collaboration solutions including Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced (UC Advanced) and the Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution. Mitel Series X aims to deliver a single solution to integrate business communications. Mitel's UC Advanced integrates your communications tools including phones, mobile devices, video conferencing, voice mail, instant messaging (IM), and email.

The sexy product within the Series X platform is Mitel TeleCollaboration, a 3-screen, high-def video conferencing solution that provides the ability to have up to 5 parties of video in a single screen without any degradation in video resolution. Mitel TeleCollaboration enables the group to view and edit documents within the application, in real time, without needing a dedicated room for the screens. It features the H.264 codec with enhancements made to reduce bandwidth requirements and improve tolerance. It sports 1080p x 1920p high definition (HD) video on 46" screens running at 30fps. It also supports wideband audio. According to Mitel, "Because it uses considerably less bandwidth than competitors (about 2.5 Mb for a full video, audio and collaboration session), Mitel's TeleCollaboration Solution saves you the expense of purchasing bandwidth guarantees. Lower bandwidth also means no need to dedicate a LAN segment." They're obviously going after Cisco TelePresence with this offering.

Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced (UCA) is a powerful communications client that integrates presence and availability, secure instant messaging, audio conferencing and web and video collaboration, document sharing and call control capabilities.

From within UC Advanced users have access to Mitel Dynamic Extension, Mitel Audio and Web Conferencing, Mitel NuPoint Unified Messaging, Mitel Teleworker Solution, Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution, UC Advanced Softphone, and UC Advanced Console.

Latest UC Advanced Capabilities:
 
•    Evolution of Dynamic Extension - Users now have a sophisticated interface to configure up to eight devices of choice with Mitel or non-Mitel phones as extensions of the corporate network.
•    Dynamic Status - Allows users to configure their status and presence including call routing options and calendar integration.
•    Visual Voice Mail - UC Advanced integrates with NuPoint Unified Messaging to provide users with the ability to see and access their voicemails. At the same time, they can see the presence status of internal callers and respond in the appropriate manner.
•    Web and Mobile Portals - Provides access to the UC Advanced interface securely from a web browser or on a user's mobile device.
•    Business Continuity - UC Advanced also plays a critical role in organization's business continuity plans as it provides the tools to allow employees to work and collaborate regardless of location in the event of pandemics and/or natural disasters. Integrated RSS feeds also allow for mass notification.

Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution:

•    The TeleCollaboration Solution combines collaboration with multi-party, high-definition, video conferencing technology providing full visual interaction with real-time desktop sharing.
•    Being software-based, the TeleCollaboration Solution leverages legacy equipment, protects organizations' investments, and integrates available standard components.

Latest Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution Capabilities:
•    Ability to record meetings and capture snapshots of the collaboration session.
•    Inclusion of remote workers or third-party participants through a simple web browser.
•    Requires only 2.5 megs of bandwidth with the ability to adapt to network fluctuations.
•    Mitel claims it has the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to similar offerings.

Pricing info:
Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced - For a 200-person company it is approximately $100/user for core UC Advanced. This price varies depending upon specific options selected for each user.

Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution - office configuration in the low $40,000s, meeting room configuration low $60,000s.

Skype for SIP keeps adding more SIP-based IP-PBX solutions to their interoperability list. First they had Shoretel, then SIPfoundry's sipXecs and now today they announced that they are interoperable with Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business.

"In today's tough economy, executives of smart small and medium-sized companies realize that effective communications with customers, partners and employees are a key to helping them grow their business," said Stefan Oberg, VP and General Manager of Skype for Business. "By certifying Skype for SIP as interoperable with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series, we are providing a single offering that will help many SMBs around the globe save money, save time and stay ahead of the competition."

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One of our sales rep's has a Blackberry and his email stopped working. Our MIS team looked at the email settings and they were fine. After contacting technical support, they told us that there is a BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) outage in all of North America. Yikes!

It's enough to make a Verizon Blackberry user want to switch to AT&T. Ok, maybe not...